Shakugan no Shana: Approaching War
by Lucky Jinxe
Summary: Shana and Yuji have defeated Bal Masque and are now a nervously joined couple; but suddenly two mysterious foreigners who Alastor knows appear bringing dark tidings. Shana and Yuji must fight for survival again as they draw closer together.
1. Prologue

**P**rologue

"Yu-chan, breakfast's ready!"

A boy descended the stairs at the call of his name and pulled out a chair to sit down at his place. His mother, Chigusa, was fussing around in the kitchen.

"Good morning, Yu-chan. You're up late today, did you not sleep well?" The mother asked. Yuji bit into a bit of toast and thought as he ate. There was no way he could tell his mother that he had been out the previous night fighting a Guze no Tomogora with Shana, a Flame Haze. In fact, his mother was even unaware to the fact that he was dead, strictly speaking anyway.

"I couldn't get to sleep at first." He lied lamely; but his mother accepted the excuse readily enough and she asked no more as she cleaned the dishes in the kitchen. Yuji finished his breakfast and carried the dish and cutlery to his mother and helping her clean up.

"Ah yes, Shana-chan called earlier." His mother said as she suddenly remembered.

"Shana did?" Yuji asked as he dried a dish off with a rag. He looked out of the window a little too hard.

"Yes. She asked me to tell you to meet her by the river bank, in the usual place she said." Chigusa relayed the message.

"Did Shana say when?" Yuji asked, a little worried he would have kept her waiting.

"Around 10:00am, I think it was." Yuji glanced at the clock to see that it was nearly half past nine.

"Ah, I'll have to get going soon then." He said, finishing up the drying up and going upstairs to change. He wondered why Shana would call the house rather than dropping by but the thoughts were mostly idle as he rushed to get ready.

"I'm going out!" He called behind him.

"Have a safe trip!" His mother called after him from somewhere in the house as he left.

"Ah, Yuji!" Shana called to the boy as she saw him run along the top of the bank searching for her in their usual training ground.

"Shana! You could have just dropped by." Yuji said as he found the nearest set of steps and hurried down them to the flat area of grass before the ground rose to the form the bank.

"I thought you'd still be asleep… so I gave Chigusa the message for you." Shana replied, a little embarrassed as she dreamt up the half truth.

"Hm, okay then." Yuji gave in as he joined her on the bank. "So was there something you wanted? Ah, you don't have Alastor with you." He observed as he noticed the absence of the necklace that Shana almost always wore. The necklace was actually a connection to her contractor; The Flame of Heaven, Alastor.

"Alastor's staying with Wilhelmina. I didn't want him to… interrupt or anything." Shana trailed off, speaking so quietly the last part was inaudible.

"Didn't want him to what?" Yuji queried; having not heard. Shana turned away, her cheeks flushed red.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Let's go." She cried and started to walk back towards the steps up to the path running along the top of the bank. Yuji hurried to keep up with her.

"Where are we going then, Shana?" Yuji asked.

"Shopping." Shana stated. Yuji nearly fell over.

"Shopping? What for?" He asked, catching himself, nearly incredulous. Shana and casual shopping were not a mix he had imagined going together.

"I wanted to get some new clothes and… well… I wanted to know… what you… thought of them." Shana said; again trailing off as she became and more embarrassed. Yuji was suddenly hit with the reality of their whole new situation, his mind going back to the previous day when they had beaten Bal Masque again; and the proceeding events.

"O-okay." He replied, unsure and nervous himself. They wandered along the path next to each other, unsure of how to treat the other as their relationship flourished into something entirely new.

Twenty minutes later the couple were in one of the many clothes shop and Shana was weaving between the racks as she examined various clothes. Yuji stood near the door and watched her. He smiled; glad to see that she was allowing more of her normal girl side through. Her coldness as a Flame Haze often made her removed from others but as time went by the façade cracked and people realised she wasn't just cold and harsh; but that it was a mask.

Shana carried a few pieces of clothing into the changing rooms and shut the door. Yuji looked out the window, his mind wandering aimlessly as he thought about all that had happened recently, how his life had changed.

He could feel a Tomogora on the outskirts of town too. It wasn't causing any trouble but he knew they had to be cautious, Bal Masque hadn't given up yet and although not all Tomogora served under the Trinity at their head, many did.

"Yuji." He turned at the call of his name. Shana had changed and was standing in front of him. She looked a little nervous but was trying to look up into his face, asking his opinion.

"Yeah, you look good." He said; and meant it. Shana's mouth widened into a smile and her nervousness was overridden by happiness. She turned around back into the changing room to return to her normal clothes and then came out to buy the new ones. They left the shop and Shana led Yuji down the street to another one.

They both stopped as they felt the Tomogora move into the town and head towards them.

"Yuji, hold this." Shana ordered as she pressed the bag of clothing into his hands and cast a Fuzetsu to make the area ready for battle. Her hair changed into the colour of flames and her eyes became red. Out of thin air Shan dragged a black cloak which she wrapped around her and from inside unsheathed a long katana.

As she was finished the Tomogora flew out of the sky to land on the top of a telegraph pole. He crossed his arms and pushed his spectacles further up his nose. He had the look of a university lecturer with a hint of cold reality to his expression.

"Good day to you." He greeted them amicably enough.

"What do you want?" Shana asked without preamble.

"Straight to the point? Then we can dispense with the pleasantries. I know who you are; but I doubt it is the reverse; but not does it matter since you won't be able to pass the name on. I have no intention of devouring anyone here, I seek to kill you and then take what's in the Mystes behind you."

"I won't let you get away with it!" Shana yelled and leapt towards the Tomogora with a burst of flame. She swung her sword and a ball of flame leapt from the flames to the Tomogora. The earth rumbled and rose up in a pillar to block the fire which burst and spread over the rock but did no more. "What?!" Shana cried, leaping back out of immediate range.

"My power: Terra. I can manipulate the ground." The Tomogora's voice drifted from behind the pillar and suddenly whips of rock rose out of the ground and Shana was trapped in an instant. She attacked a whip in an attempt to break through but her fire washed off it and her sword simply dug into the rock before becoming stuck. She yanked it free and wings of fire sprouted from her back as she flew towards a gap in the rock whips which were closing in on her; but as she turned her back on them they shot out and wrapped around her legs and dragged her back.

From all around they closed in and wrapped around her body. She cried out in pain as they began tighten, the hard rock digging into her. She saw Yuji running towards her and screamed at him.

"No! Yuji, run!" It was no use; the Tomogora was already upon him. The rock whips rose again and the Mystes boy was trapped.

"I can't believe Bal Masque failed to defeat you; but then again my powers are resistant to your flames." The enemy said as he reached towards Yuji. Shana struggled but the coils around her just tightened. She felt her skin rip in places as wounds were opened. She couldn't breathe and her world began to go black; but all she could think of was Yuji and his peril.

"Shana!" Yuji shouted as he saw Shana's head loll backwards as she fell into unconsciousness. The Tomogora looked back and shook his head.

"Honestly, Flame Haze are weak if you can combat their powers. Now I'm afraid I don't have the time to chat as the Manipulator of Objects will head over here shortly and my powers aren't at such an advantage against her, so without further preamble I'll be taking the Reiji Maigo." The Tomogora reached forwards and his hand stretched into Yuji's chest.

"The Keeper will kill you!" Yuji cried weakly, a last attempt to save himself. The whips around him seemed to have drained his ability to use his power of existence.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about me; I know how to bypass most Keepers." The Tomogora said with a smug smile. The smile vanished when the whips surrounding Shana shattered and small shards of rock fell to the ground. His hand emerged from Yuji's chest as he whipped around to see what the disturbance was.

Shana lay limp in the hands of another girl. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes, a northern European. She wore some kind of white uniform with an emblem of a rose with shining blue arrows dotting the background, a sword hung from her side in an expensively decorated scabbard and a bow was strapped across her back. She cut the figure of an elegant warrior, looking fit and not lacking in any respect while not being in excess either. Her beauty radiated from her face as did warmth and softness; but with them was mingled harsh experience.

"I'd ask you to step away from that boy but I doubt you'd comply." A strong male voice said. A boy dressed in the same uniform to the girl but with a different coat of arms symbolising a lion facing a dragon was the owner of the voice and he had appeared out of nowhere less than two metres from the Tomogora and Yuji. He too was blonde and had blue eyes and he too radiated warmth but the softness was weaker and instead there was the heavy weight of experience and harsh reality, a soldier's aura. A sword was strapped across his back in a decorative red leather scabbard; a blue silk sash tied at both ends had been dropped over his head to fall diagonally across his chest, securing the sword.

"Who are you? You're not Flame Haze or Mystes or Guze no Tomogora!" The Tomogora was panicking now and he turned constantly between the two as if they might disappear if he took his eyes off one for long enough.

"No, we're not. We're just travellers helping out where we go; and you're causing trouble as your kind always does." The boy spoke as he reached over his shoulder and slowly unsheathed his longsword. He held it in one hand. The weapon was a longsword with a blade that had a breadth almost bringing it under the broadsword class.

"You make a move toward me and I eat these people and this Mystes." The Tomogora squeaked, his calm composure had vanished as fear set in.

The next thing Yuji saw was the Tomogora falling into two, blue flames escaping from the hole and the mysterious boy sheathing his sword quite calmly right in front of him. The boy touched the rock chains that bound Yuji and they fell to the ground in pieces.

"Thanks." Yuji muttered then glanced over to see Shana lying on the ground looking hopelessly beat up and wounded. The blonde girl was leaning over her with hands held above Shana's heart. Green light was shining from her hands and seemed to be absorbed by Shana's body and slowly the signs of injury faded.

"Who are you? You don't seem like Flame Haze; and you're not Tomogora." Yuji asked, eyeing the two cautiously.

"Don't worry, I meant what I said. We're human; but have the abilities of a Flame Haze." The boy explained and led the Mystes over to the two girls.

"She'll be fine but will need a little rest. Her regeneration as a Flame Haze will take over and finish off the process." The blonde girl said and stood up.

"What is going on here ~ de arimasu?" A voice from down the street made them all turn to see a woman in a maid's uniform walking towards them. Shana's necklace hung from her neck.

"Ah, Carmel-san. It has been quite some years." The boy said with a kind smile. Wilhelmina stopped for a moment and studied the two and recognition spread across her face.

"I did not think we would see you again ~ de arimasu." She replied. Her maid-like hat seemed to speak for itself, while in fact it was the Lord of Guze who Wilhelmina had made a contract with speaking through it.

"Thought dead."

"We've been rather busy back at home." The girl spoke up as Wilhelmina closed the distance between them.

"You know them, Carmel-san?" Yuji asked and Wilhelmina nodded her head.

"Before her training truly began they appeared for a short while. The Flame of Heaven spoke with them and then they left."

"Purpose unknown."

A cough came from the necklace as Alastor, The Flame of Heaven, got their attention.

"Since you are here then I presume the time you spoke of is coming. We must talk; but in a more suitable place than the middle of a Fuzetsu." As usual, he was logical and down to business.

"I agree; and it would also be best if we spoke while she was awake for she needs to hear this as much if not more than anyone else. For now Ellie and I will look for residence in the city and plan our stay. We can assemble somewhere later; do you have any ideas regarding a suitable place?" The boy not only had a soldierly aura about him; but he had the easy authority of an officer.

"I'm quite sure you'll be able to find our location. We will be ready to receive you within two hours." The Flame of Heaven spoke and the boy nodded.

"In two hours then." Wilhelmina walked past Yuji to pick Shana up. She moaned quietly in her sleep. The Mystes noticed the boy was watching him with an innocent curiosity. After a few moments the boy nodded his head as if something had been confirmed and he held out his hand for Yuji to shake.

"I'm Imanda Himura, this is Mithran Elena. A pleasure to meet you." He said with genuine warmth. Sakai, taken slightly aback at this sudden friendliness shook the boy's hand unsurely. As his hand touched the other boy's he felt an immense strength flow into him.

"I'm Sakai Yuji." He introduced himself and the boy nodded his head.

"We'll be seeing a fair bit of each other in the new future, Yuji, so I hope we can get along." With that he let go of Yuji's hand and called to the girl, Elena; and the two disappeared from sight as suddenly as they had appeared.


	2. Chapter 1

**Note: **A rather lengthy explanation. Apologies for the long blathering; but it has to be dumped somewhere!

**C**hapter 1

"I shall take her back to the apartment for now ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina stated in her monotone and turned to go.

"I'll come as well. I think it'd be best if I heard their story as well." Yuji said, causing the Flame Haze to stop. She turned around stared at him hard for a few seconds before finally nodding her head.

"It wouldn't do if we were in danger due to your ignorance ~ de arimasu." She held out a hand and her bandage like cloth shot out and wrapped around his waist and then she had leapt into the air dragging the boy with her as she carried Shana.

After several minutes of being dragged through the air and some time waiting in boredom, Yuji was standing at the balcony and staring out over the city as Wilhelmina busied herself with Shana's welfare.

"Yuji." The voice made him turn and Shana was standing, changed into the clothes she had bought, her other clothes too stained to wear for the meanwhile.

"You're alright, I'm glad." The Mystes boy said with a smile. It had been quite some time since Shana had been defeated when not covering for Yuji.

"That Tomogora was smart; he knew how to deflect my flames." Shana said, almost petulantly, she was a very sore loser. "I'm sorry Yuji; he almost got the Reiji Maigo because I was careless." Shana finally said, looking away from Yuji's face.

"Its fine, I'm fine so it's alright. More importantly, do you know about those two who saved us, Shana?" Yuji asked but Shana shook her head.

"I didn't see them but I've never heard of a human who has the powers of a Flame Haze. Alastor knows but he's not saying anything right now. Wilhelmina isn't either." Shana looked down at the pendant and seemed worried. It was the first time Alastor and Wilhelmina had deliberately withheld information, which meant it was important or serious.

A knock on the apartment door made the couple look towards the entrance.

"I will answer it ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina appeared from the bathroom and utility room and moved down into the small hallway to open the door. They never had visitors so it had to be the mysterious foreigners; and indeed it was for Wilhelmina led the two into the room. They were no longer dressed in their white uniforms but were in standard casual clothes. The girl wore a plain white blouse with a medium length navy blue skirt with a violet petticoat to complete the ensemble. The boy wore ordinary jeans with a sky blue aertex horizontally striped with small navy blue and white stripes. The girl wore a pair of trainers which looked to be more fashionable than decorative while the boy had a pair of black Nike running trainers on.

"You!" Shana exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at them. The two smiled at her remembering.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" The girl asked.

"I thought you didn't know them, Shana?" Yuji asked, confused.

"It was from when I was training to become a Flame Haze. I thought they were, I didn't know how to sense power of existence at the time so I couldn't tell." Shana's finger slowly lowered.

"Perhaps we should explain ourselves properly. Alastor knows why we'd be here; but to the rest of you it'll be a mystery." The boy said and after some muttered agreements they were sitting on whatever furniture came to hand in the sparsely furnished apartment. Shana and Yuji found themselves sitting on the sofa, the blonde girl sat on a chair to their left and Wilhelmina sat to her left while the boy leaned on the sliding door that made up the window to the balcony which was to the right of the sofa.

"I think perhaps we should start by introducing ourselves properly." The girl said, glancing at the boy leaning on the window who nodded. He barely seemed awake.

"I'm Lady Elena Mithran, or Mithran Elena in the way Japanese is spoken. I'm a member of the Guardian Council and second in command of Her Majesty's British Guardian Division." Elena glanced at the boy who pushed himself reluctantly off the window and held a hand out towards the table. A chair shot out from underneath and slid across the floor to his hand. Grasping the top of the chair he spun it around on one leg so that it was facing into the small circle the group now made and sat down.

"My name is Lord Himura Imanda; Himura being my forename and Imanda being my surname. I, too, am a member of the Guardian Council. I am in command of Her Royal Majesty's British Guardian Division and am also second command of the International Guardian Organisation." Yuji looked gob smacked but Shana was unimpressed.

"Fancy titles; but who are you?" She asked, her Flame Haze attitude was in place.

"I'm glad you think of little of them as I do." The boy said with a rueful smile. "Ellie and I are Guardians, a generation of humans who received power from their ancestors. Our powers are diverse, for example we can use Unrestricted Spells without being Flame Haze, Tomogora or Mystes."

"I've never heard of any of this before, there would have at least been rumours through Outlaw about your kind." Shana said, not convinced yet.

"They are not of this world." Alastor's voice brought all of their attention.

"What do you mean, Alastor?" Shana asked.

"Alastor is quite correct. We're not from your world, we were born in another and we travel between worlds." Elena spoke up.

"That's impossible." Wilhelmina interjected but Alastor spoke again.

"It is not; although no being from this world has ever managed such a feat."

"Let's just assume for a moment that you believe us, alright? Then we can move onto why we're here which is more important than our abilities." Himura said, crushing all the half spoke arguments. He took a breath and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples with his forefingers.

"We've been going from world to world to protect the inhabitants there. Every world has a balance of good and evil, of a sort. Sometimes one side gains the upper hand; but then the scales balance as the other side finds a countermeasure. If there is outside influence then the scales become unbalanced. Now as in most worlds the side of good is usually under pressure it is hard for them to travel to different worlds and so upset said balance."

"However, the 'villains' or 'evil side' are often in a position where they can bridge the gaps between worlds and so tip the balance against the 'heroes' or 'heroines' of that world." Elena had taken up the story now.

"These two brought this to my attention a number of years ago. They showed me irrefutable proof of their words and warned that a time would come when the balance would be upset against us." Alastor had spoken now.

"So there are enemies from other worlds coming here?" Shana asked, half incredulous but also assessing the danger as reality.

"That's right; but that's only the half of it." Himura looked up now. "Our own world has always been under great threat. The greatest of all evils was one manifested upon our world; and only in recent years, with the birth of the Guardians, has it been beaten back. We're currently in a deadlock, the enemy unable to breach our defences while we are spread too thinly to organise a real offensive. It came to our attention that our enemy had decided to try another tact, he sent envoys to other worlds to form coalitions."

"So we, the Guardians, sent our own envoys. Our battle is spreading across many worlds now in minor skirmishes. The Guardians supporting the 'good' side and our enemy supporting the 'evil' side. Whoever ends up with more support at the end will attain overall victory." Elena had once again taken over. The two spoke in phases, as if they were somehow connected or had rehearsed the speech.

"So other worlds are threatened because you can't win your battle?" Shana demanded.

"Our enemy isn't strictly speaking from our own world, they simply decided that our world would be their home, as one which was supposedly weak. We were defeated with ease and a great deal of life was extinguished, humanity forced into slavery. Guardians were born, we were a safeguard our ancestors had put into place, predicting this event from their battle with the same enemy from so long ago." Himura explained, motioning to him and Elena.

"Normally, we'd defeat their envoys and that would be enough, our deadlock would remain; but it's not that easy. Whenever the envoys are sent, they make a pact with that side. When the recipients of the envoys help defeat us, our enemy will return the aid by destroying said "villain's" enemies."

"So what does any of this have to do with us? You spoke to Alastor years ago and now you've sought us out again." Shana interrupted. Himura rolled his eyes and Elena sighed.

"If we lose, our enemy comes after you." Himura spoke simply and cuttingly.

"The balance in this world is equal right now with Flame Haze battling against the Tomogora and especially against Bal Masque; but if something were to upset the balance then the other side would be annihilated." Alastor had summed it up for them.

"So you're here because one of your enemy came here?" Shana asked, Himura nodded tiredly.

"Yes. We've been travelling from world to world blocking our enemy's attempts to gain allies for several months now. They've come here now, this is their last stop and they will focus more attention than usual here."

"If Bal Masque were victorious they would become a mighty ally." Alastor seemed the only one to really understand the situation.

"That's half of it." Elena spoke. Himura seemed drained now and was leaning back in his chair. "The bridges between worlds can only be operated by the Guardians and our enemy, no one else has the ability to create these bridges and amongst our enemies only the powerful can make bridges capable of transporting multiple beings. There is a recurring time when these bridges are most easily created and maintained and that day is a short time away."

"So the time for an attack to be made on you is coming soon?" Yuji asked. He had been following the conversation closely and his mind was racing with the possibilities.

"That's right. Our enemy will become more and more desperate as the optimal time approaches. Without enough support they will lose, for not only do we block their attempts but we gather our own support. Most people see the sense in defeating a common enemy and in so doing weaken their own enemies. Unless we defeat them, Bal Masque will be at that battle. The purpose of the envoy is to kill all Flame Haze, the beings able to counter them." Elena had taken over all of the conversation for Himura.

"In short, they're here to protect us so that we can help them in the final battle." Alastor summarised.

"We don't need to be protected though. We've fought against Bal Masque twice and beaten them." Shana said, standing up as if the meeting were over. Himura seemed to stir as if from a sleep and leant forwards.

"I don't think you understand." He said. Yuji saw the pain and experience in the boy's eyes, a great sadness mixed with tremendous determination. "We're here to protect you, because otherwise you'll die. There are no two ways about it. You can cope with Bal Masque; but you cannot defeat our enemy was well, even with all the Flame Haze in the world at your back, you will fall. We're here to prevent that." His tone of voice left no room for argument and Shana sat down without a word.

"How do you expect your enemy to aid Bal Masque?" Alastor asked into the quiet.

"They're sending an army, several thousand strong. Every one in that army could fight on equal terms with the majority of Flame Haze; and they'll outnumber you without the help from Bal Masque." Elena spoke for Himura who had once again leaned back.

"So they send an army and you send two people?" Shana asked in an unimpressed tone; but the two Guardians were smiling smugly.

"Two of us is more than enough for a thousand of them."

* * *

Hours later Yuji was sitting on the bank of the river with Shana sitting next to him. They hadn't really talked since the two Guardians had left the apartment, their minds were filling over with the information. Too much had happened, the danger was incomprehensible.

"Fuzetsu!" Yuji started as Shana stood up and cast the Unrestricted Spell.

"Shana?" He asked as she whipped out her cloak and her sword was in her hand.

"It's coming." She answered. Yuji stumbled to his feet as a winged figure flew down from the sky to land lightly on the bank below them. It was human in form but for the black wings sprouting from its back and the horns from its head; and the skin was between the colours of rust and blood.

"It's not a Tomogora." Yuji said, glancing at Shana who nodded her head, she had thought the same.

"No, I am not. We do not have time to talk, the Guardians will be upon us soon so we ask that you do not struggle too much and die swiftly." A sword appeared in its hand; and more shapes emerged from the red tinged sky of the Fuzetsu and landed on the bank and ascended towards Shana and Yuji.

"Shana, they're too strong to take on at once!" Yuji called but the girl wasn't listening. Alastor warned her but Shana didn't hear and leapt forwards, the flame wings sprouting from her back as she swung her sword and flames erupted from the blade to blanket the ground in a layer of fire.

Shana flew above the flames, searching for enemies. Shadows leapt out from the flames and the enemy were all around her. Shana flew up to get away from the encirclement but they were hard on her tail. She veered away and then plunged down in a steep dive in an attempt to shake them off but they were close behind her; and then she saw the one making its way up the bank towards Yuji.

Yuji fired off a spell at it, a ball of his power of existence but the approaching enemy just knocked them aside with the back of its hand. Shana leant to the side to circle down towards Yuji but the other enemy were in her way.

"You're in the way!" She screamed and fired off more flames and flew forwards only to have her way blocked by the enemy again who had recovered from the attack. She deflected a lunge and was halfway through a counter swing when other swords reached for her and she was forced to retreat backwards and all she could do was defend as the enemy pressed her back.

The words of the Guardians came back to her, that they were equal to the average Flame Haze. Shana was not an ordinary Flame Haze, she was the Flame Haze of The Flame of Heaven, the Flame Haired Red Hot Eyed Hunter; but against so many powerful opponents she had no chance.

Gradually the attacks began to slip past her defence and then a feinted lunge turned into a zooming fist which struck her in the stomach and sent her spiralling down the ground where she hit the bank and rolled down, her sword clattering on the ground until she rolled to a stop at the bottom.

Shana groggily lifted her head and saw Yuji shouting to her, the enemy before him with raised sword apparently forgotten. The sword fell and Shana could only watch.


	3. Chapter 2

**C**hapter 2

"Alrighty, let's stop right there chaps."

Yuji lowered his arms to look up at the sound of this vaguely familiar voice. Elena stood in front of him. She was wearing the clothes she had been wearing when they had first met: White trousers tucked into black-brown leather boots with gold buckles up the side and a leather belt looped loosely around her waist. She wore a white blouse, a white jacket over the top with a broach fastened at the neck and her coat of arms emblazoned above her heart.

A red leather scabbard hung at her hip, richly decorated with golden filigree and a beautifully carved and treated bow was slung across her back. The scabbard was empty for the sword itself was in her right hand, held horizontally in front of Yuji. The blade glowed a dim blue, Yuji quietly noticed that it wasn't quite the massive weapon that Himura wielded and looked to be better suited to Elena's more elegant physique.

The enemy who had been about to cleave Yuji's head in two struggled against Elena's blade but to no avail and Elena's left hand drifted across her body to the butt of the blade as her right hand moved up to make room. She swung it with both hands and sent the enemy hurtling back down the bank into Shana's flames and was burnt to a crisp.

"You demons still underestimate us." Elena said, holding her sword in the guard position and planting her feet firmly in the ground. Shana struggled to her feet and did the same, the demons caught in the middle. The group split into two, half rushing Elena who stood up on the bank and the other half towards Shana. The two girls shifted slightly as they moved to take advantage of weak guards and leapt forwards, each dispatching an opponent.

Shana leapt back as swords reached for her and swung her sword, flames leapt from it and engulfed one of the demons, a more intense flame than her earlier wide area attacks that the demons had avoided. The remaining two charged forwards and Shana blocked a series of attacks before ducking and swiping one off its feet and stabbing up under the other's guard and up through its chin and into the brain.

The demon burst into black flames and disappeared as Shana swung her sword down to finish off the dazed demon lying on the floor. She looked up for a new enemy and saw there none more, Elena having finished off on her end too.

"Looks like I made it in time." Elena greeted Shana with a smile and sheathed her sword.

"He wasn't exaggerating when he spoke of them." Shana replied as she slid her sword into the black cloak and then whipped the cloak off, it flashed red then disappeared.

"No, he wasn't. Between you, me and Carmel-san we could take on maybe a tenth of their number, not counting for Bal Masque's forces." Elena agreed grimly as they walked up the bank.

"You didn't mention him." Shana noticed, speaking of Himura. Elena sighed.

"Himie could quite easily take them all on with little problem if he were in good condition; but he's worn out. He's had perhaps three hours of sleep in the past six or seven weeks; and it's been like that for the whole time we've been out here. He's almost at his limit and I don't expect he'll be getting any rest until we're finished here. In his current condition he could perhaps fight as many again as we could combined." Elena said.

"So how do we even the balance?" Shana demanded and a smile flitted across Elena's lips.

"We've called for some backup, so things should be fine and perhaps Himie can get some rest while they're here." Yuji was waiting for them at the top of the bank.

"Shana, are you alright?" He asked, concerned. He hadn't seen her beaten in such a fashion for quite some time.

"I'm fine; I just underestimated them that's all."

"We can't afford to make the same mistake twice." Alastor spoke and Shana nodded.

"In any case, it's perhaps time you went back to your apartment. They won't be sending any more forces out for a while yet, I don't think." Elena said and began to walk away.

"Can I ask something?" Yuji asked and Elena turned around.  
"What is it?"

"You called them demons, didn't you?"

"I did indeed. They are demons. Our enemy is often referred to as The Devil."

* * *

"I'll see you tomorrow then." Yuji said as they stood outside his house. Shana nodded, looking left and right as if looking for something.

"Be careful, Yuji." She said, she looked up at Yuji, coloured and shook her head and then turned to go. Yuji, in his usual clueless manner, didn't really take notice. He walked past the walls of his house and walked inside; calling to his mother that he was home.

* * *

"Everything alright?" Himura asked from the armchair as Elena walked inside.

"Yes, I got there in time to prevent anything too serious. I limited my power so they couldn't tell who was here; and Shana-chan's power exceeds our earlier expectations. She surpass mine with the limits on." Elena continued on upstairs to change out of her uniform.

Downstairs Himura futilely tried to blink away the blurriness in his vision as he read the report in front of him. He gave up after several attempts and slid the folder onto the small table next to the armchair and closed his eyes. Within seconds he was asleep, a sleep born from such exhaustion that there were no dreams, just blackness.

* * *

The next day Shana and Yuji were once again wandering through the streets of the commercial area of Masaki City, resuming their date from the previous day. The couple stopped in front of the cinema and Shana looked curiously at Yuji.

"Shall we go in?" He asked. Shana, as always, was intrigued by the new experience and they went inside and bought tickets to one of the many films released in the run up to Christmas.

Shana watched the film, riveted by the experience while Yuji was torn between the film and her response to it, both of which were equally entertaining. In the run up to the climax Shana caught sight of another couple not far from them and she saw their interlaced hands.

She looked at her own hand and her eyes slid sideways to sneak a glance at Yuji who was watching the screen, unawares to her stare. Her gaze fell down to his arm which lay atop the arm rest between them. Her fingers twitched involuntarily and her heart started to pump as she leaned back.

As casually as possible Shana moved her hand towards Yuji's and lay it on top, interlacing her fingers into his. She was surprised to find that his hand turned to make the move easier and she saw that he was now looking out of the corner of his eye at her. Shana shifted in her seat so that she was closer to Yuji and leaned over so that her head was resting on his shoulder.

* * *

Back in the apartment Elena sat at the table with Wilhelmina, Alastor's communication via the pendant laid on the table completing their small meeting. A map of the city was spread out on the table top and Elena studied it carefully, asking questions intermittently to the other two, or three if you counted Tiamat, the Lord of Guze Wilhelmina had made a contract with.

"It would be more effective if we had your companion here to aid us in planning ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina said as Elena's eyes darted across the map, taking in areas and asking a few questions about the areas. She had seen much of the place herself already and so had a good idea of the area.

"Himie's resting for now. He hasn't slept properly for months and his combat ability is greatly diminished. While Himie is the more experienced strategist I do have my own command." Elena picked up a pencil and marked several areas of the map with crosses. "These are suitable places to make a stand, I would think. Unfortunately we cannot easily predict their actions for now."

"Is there any way we can observe their movements?" Alastor asked.

"By following Bal Masque, I'm sure we could; but with your information network in such a state I'm not sure we can depend on it." Elena bit her lip and thought. She wasn't happy with their inability to prepare; but they had done all they could, which was not a lot.

"If we were in need would you be able to call in reinforcements of any form?" Alastor asked and Elena nodded her head.

"There's a crack squad of men Himie hand picked from his division who will head here should we need them, which I think may be necessary but we should keep such an option hidden as our trump card for now. What about on your side?" Elena looked up, asking Wilhelmina. It was hard to try and gain eye contact from a pendant.

"There is the Interpreter of Condolence who is a mighty fighter and spell caster; but it is unusual for Flame Haze to work together ~ de arimasu."

"Support unlikely." Tiamat spoke for the first time in the meeting, which was not unusual.

"So in the worst case scenario that leads us with three Flame Haze, Himie and I." She shook her head at the odds. "If Himie were in prime condition it wouldn't be a problem; but while he could fight beyond all our abilities he couldn't win the battle for us without further support."

"So your reinforcements may well be a necessity." Alastor spoke and Elena nodded her head.

"That's a distinct possibility. If Himie doesn't recover enough we will definitely need them, otherwise we can use them to ensure an easier victory."

"For now, all we can do is wait until they make their move." Alastor said and the two women nodded their heads.

* * *

At the end of the film the couple stepped out of the cinema, hands still clasped.

"I never knew about anything like this." Shana said, waving with her free hand at the cinema.

"It's very different to watching things on TV, I guess." Yuji agreed, although of course he had been into a cinema before. "Where do you want to go next?" He asked and Shana glanced around the street. She caught sight of another couple, older than them; and her eyes focused in on the woman's bracelet that glittered prettily.

"The jewellery shop." She declared and Yuji glanced at her, surprised.

"You're going to buy another necklace?" He asked and she looked at him questioningly. He pointed to her ears. "Well you can't buy earrings there, you'd need to have your ears pierced for that."

"Pierced? Like having them stabbed?" Shana asked with a look of horror on her face.

"Well, I think they do it a little more sophisticatedly but I guess you could say that." Yuji answered.

"I don't want that. Maybe a bracelet." Shana said, turning away to search the street for the shop containing the glittering treasures. Finding the shop she pointed to excitedly and led Yuji by the hand over to it. She peered in the window, her eyes moving over the necklaces and rings and earrings with disinterest.

"They probably show them inside." Yuji suggested and Shana nodded her head, not deterred from her new want yet. She pushed the door open and walked inside with Yuji coming in behind. Shana let go of his hand and rushed over to a floor to ceiling glass cabinet full of the accessory she wanted. Yuji watched and allowed himself a smile, Shana did truly have the side of a normal girl too, excited by more ordinary things when she could forget about her duty as a Flame Haze and the battles to be fought.

Shana pressed her face against the glass and her gaze flicked from bracelet to bracelet. She couldn't decide between two and asked for one of the shop assistants to get them so she could try them on. A middle aged lady opened the cabinet for her and handed them both to her before closing and locking the glass door again. Shana rushed over to Yuji and held them up.

"Which one?" She asked, putting one on each wrist. Yuji thought honestly and seriously for a few moments before he pointed at the one on her right wrist. It was made of a golden chain with small glittering red stones that looked suspiciously like rubies embedded in the metal at intervals to form swirling patterns.

Shana looked at it and considered before nodding her head and her content smile beamed forth as she turned to the shop assistant who had been waiting nearby and spoke to her. The lady returned the bracelets to the cabinet and went to the back of the shop before returning with a leather box with a velvet padding that contained the same bracelet. Shana paid for it and the couple left the shop, the girl now overjoyed at her purchase and admiring the accessory.

Yuji walked Shana to the base of the apartment complex where the girl wrapped her arms around him and snuggled against his chest. Yuji's arms encircled her back and they stood there for a few moments before they parted, said their goodbyes and Yuji departed home. Shana watched him disappear down the street before she walked into the lobby and made her way up to the apartment.

Up on the balcony Elena sat sipping a cup of tea, with milk of course, watching the parting and smiled to herself.

"With such a cute pair, we can't let any trouble befall them." She murmured the vow before taking another sip.

* * *

In the armchair at the temporarily acquired house, Himura groggily awoke from his sleep, feeling completely refreshed. He sat up and stretched, his muscles feeling sleepy after so long of being pushed beyond their limit. He quickly awoke them with a series of complex stretches and exercises before he opened his laptop and printed off the newest report.

In the kitchen he brewed a pot of tea, hearing the printer's whirring and clacking stop he picked up his mug of tea, again with milk in the traditional English style; and walked back into the main room and bent down to pick up the report. He sipped from his mug and scanned the paper before him. It seemed pretty standard and routine; but as he reached the final page he stopped sipping and read the entry again.

"Well, bugger."


	4. Chapter 3

**C**hapter 3

The next day Elena arrived at the apartment as per usual at the agreed time but her expression was troubled and when Shana tried to get her attention she looked up distractedly.

"You look worried." Shana stated and Elena gave her a small smile.

"Just a little. I haven't seen Himie since yesterday. He was sleeping and he just disappeared; but there's no way there's been any foul play, not with him. Besides, most of the paperwork he had been looking at is gone so he probably took it with him. I'm just worried that he's disappeared like this. He's never done it before without telling me."

"He probably expected to be back quickly." Shana assured Elena, feeling odd and unsure about consoling someone else, it was not a social skill she had developed properly yet. Elena nodded but without much conviction.

"In any case, we have to think about the possibility that he won't be around should we be attacked." She stood up and wandered into the kitchen, absent mindledly pouring a cup of tea. One thing Shana had noticed about this fairly mysterious English girl was that she drunk a tremendous amount of tea.

"We would only be in true danger if Bal Masque massed their entire force on us at once ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina said as she entered the room, carrying a basket of clothes fresh from the tumble dryer.

"And it is unlikely they would risk such a headlong assault, even if they aren't aware of my presence." Elena finished, moving back from the small kitchen and sitting at the table. She placed the cup down carefully onto a mug mat and sighed.

"I sometimes worry about him. He's one of the most powerful beings alive and yet he's so terribly human at the same time." She muttered, mostly to herself.

"And don't say you don't find it tremendously attractive." The familiar voice made her look up. Himura was walking towards the table, wearing similar casual clothes as he had been before. He looked haggard but not exhausted as he had been before. Shana jumped to her feet.

"How did you get in here?" She demanded. The door to the apartment was locked; but a slight breeze entered the room and Himura pointed to the now open balcony sliding glass door.

"Through there." He said and sat down opposite Elena. Her hands snaked across the table and held his.

"Why did you go all of a sudden?" She asked.

"I got a combat report in. It seems that our predictions regarding preparation time were off, we had a few days less than we had originally thought." He looked at her and saw the same expression he had wore upon reading the report.

"They've already attacked?" She asked quietly and he nodded.

"Luckily our forces were prepared and all the defences had been completed beforehand. I have the reports back at the house; but they don't matter. What matters is that our situation here is a little more important than before." The two Flame Haze had made their way to the table to listen to the conversation.

"It seems that some of the gateways are less stable than either of our sides thought. We've been able to close some down so that only a minimal guard is needed on them and our forces have been concentrated elsewhere. However, it means they're in need of stable gateways to unload more forces into the battle." Himura unlaced his fingers from Elena's and reached into his aertex pocket chest pocket and put a folded piece of paper on the table. He unfolded it and the other three leaned over it.

"What's this?" Shana asked as she studied it, mostly it was meaningless to her.

"The remaining gateways capable of carrying their armies." Himura said. He pointed to annotations on the paper next to some of the words. "If there's writing next to the place name that means the gateway is guarded sufficiently."

"It looks like they're all safe then." Shana commented but Himura shook his head and his finger rested next to one line. It was free of any annotation, except for a ring that circled the place name.

"This is the one place where there hasn't been any fighting yet; but that can't last much longer. Bryan will head through as quickly as possible; but he'll need time to gather the full division needed to plug weakness in our defence."

"It is not a name I am familiar with ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina said and Shana nodded.

"It's an English county, so no surprise there. However, that's one end of the portal. The English county is the exit to our world; the other end is in a place you'll be familiar with." His finger slid back to reveal a hyphen followed by another place name.

"Misaki City."

* * *

Yuji lay on the sofa not really watching the TV program on in front of him. His mind was preoccupied. Memories of the time in the cinema and then shopping with Shana ran through his mind; but then the image of her lying beaten on the ground with the demons around her sprung up and his mind would recoil only to settle back into the pattern moments later.

After several minutes of this he sighed and forced himself to get up and go to the little veranda running around the outside of the house. He slid the door open and stepped onto the wooden platform, looking up at the sky. He considered calling Shana but realised he didn't actually know the phone number of her apartment, or even if she had a phone there.

He felt a growing sense of unease, tightening slowly in his chest. The last time he had such a feeling was leading up to and during their battle with Sabrac. The Mystes boy looked up at the blue sky and resolved to find the source of this worry. He called to his mother that he was going out and left the house.

After walking like what felt like circles Yuji thought he was getting closer to whatever he was looking for. Then the feeling began to fade so he retraced his steps until it was strongest and looked around him. The area looked no different to usual, just one of the many streets in Misaki city. He thought about Sabrac and wondered if perhaps the source was underground; but it didn't feel like it. Then it occurred to him and he looked up.

* * *

"Do you have an idea for where this portal will open; and when?" Alastor demanded and Himura nodded.

"I got a co-ordinate from Bryan. I'll need a map and I can find it on there, you'll notice when we get near enough. As for when, I can't be sure. A portal takes quite some time to be fully opened; and I mean on the scale of days. When first opened you could get perhaps get twelve people across at once; but their passage would leave the bridge unstable for a long time and no one else could go through until it stabilised."

"So we can expect skirmishes ~ de arimasu?" Wilhelmina asked and Himura nodded.

"A portal, on average takes three to four days to become fully stable and be able to carry large numbers of beings for a sustained amount of time." Elena explained. "Although, whatever forces they send through there we can deal with easily, that's not going to be our problem."

"The enemy already here." Alastor said, understanding.

"Exactly. Should they move into position to guard the portal, or support any forces sent through there we'll have a real fight on our hands." Himura answered and stood up.

"You told me that Bal Masque has gone after this Yuji several times. I suspect that they will still go after him even though they have the support of the envoy and his troops." Himura turned to the window and looked out over the city.

"It would be possible that Bal Masque will simply use their allies as a diversion to get their hands on the Reiji Maigo." Alastor agreed.

"I won't let that happen." Shana said fiercely with a shake of her head for emphasis.

"Well then I hope to depend on you for his defence." Himura flashed the small girl a grin.

"Alastor, you haven't taught Shana-chan about how to really tap into power yet, have you?" Elena asked. Shana turned to her, surprise showing on her face.

"If you are referring to transferring more power into her body-"

"No, that's not what I mean. Shana-chan is still too young to have more of your power running through her. She has an amazing threshold for it already; but you've judged her limit quite well, any more and I fear it will have undesirable side effects. No, I refer to her own power." Elena was looking into Shana's eyes and the younger girl couldn't look away from the kind and soft yet so very determined and wise eyes.

"Her own power? She does not have power like yours." Alastor pointed out.

"Perhaps saying her own power was a little confusing. I think a better phrase for it would be enhancing your power." Himura had spoken and turned towards the table. "A Flame Haze's powers are given to them through the Lords of Guze they make a contract with; but the level of that power varies. The Flame Haze have different capacities as containers; but a Flame Haze with a lower capacity can be more powerful than one with a large capacity."

"Go on." Alastor said and Shana looked down at the pendant. She was surprised and confused that despite all their battles she hadn't been taught how to enhance her power even further.

"A person with a strong will can accomplish almost anything. They can bring out whatever power they have to the maximum strength if their determination is strong enough; but conversely weak determination results in lower strength."

"Shana's determination has always been solid, bound by her iron will." Alastor interrupted but the boy shook his head and Elena took up the lesson.

"Shana fights as a Flame Haze, to maintain the balance of the world. While a noble pursuit, it is not her life. What someone uses as their core for determination is what results in their ultimate strength. Shana uses her want to protect the world as is her job; but that is not so personal a feeling."

"Personal feelings may well get in the way of accomplishing a mission or stopping a necessary decision." Alastor interrupted again so the two foreigners swapped over again and Himura spoke.

"I hardly believe that using a person close to you will ever interfere with your mission. No one is so cold as to be able to remove the person closest to them no matter what the result will be otherwise. Let's take myself for example. I have several reasons for fighting, survival and protecting all those close to me among them. The core of that is my family, Ellie. I will fight beyond the point of death for that reason because it is so strong. Can you say that you would do the same for protecting the balance?" Himura's eyes, so like Elena's, bore into Shana's and she felt as if he knew everything about her, understood her completely, all her secrets revealed.

"What you are saying is that for Shana to amplify my powers better she needs to find a stronger reason to fight?" Alastor summed up and the two nodded.

"I know of no reason stronger than love for another. Such an emotion can blind you; but if controlled and funnelled it can be used to strengthen oneself beyond measure." Himura turned back to the window. "In any case, I've given my message now so I must return to help procure our saviours." Himura walked towards the closed sliding door; and then he walked into it. The glass rippled as if it were water and the boy vanished into it.

"A stronger reason to fight…." Shana murmured to herself. Suddenly warning bells sounded in all their heads.

"There's something out there ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina stated, looking out the window.

"Yup, a little foray party coming out of the portal. I can sense about forty of them. It's over the shopping district, I do believe." Elena confirmed, glancing at Shana who was rooted to the spot. "There's a certain Mystes right below that portal."


	5. Chapter 4

**Note: **Okay, time to explain how I'm crossing the bridges between language. As you can see, I leave on the honourifics the characters use in the series for each other, or use suitable ones for the new characters. This is because without them, I think it simply does not sound right in my head. Otherwise they might as well be speaking English, for all the difference it makes except that they are in fact speaking Japanese, so I explained the names earlier by reversing them. Elena and Himura are English, therefore their names are the opposite way around to the Japanese way so they explained the reversal so that people do not get confused. As for all the new stuff I'm bringing in like the demons and the portals, I will try and get around to explaining them; but sometimes I just won't because the simple fact is it's one of those things no one knows and just is.

**C**hapter 4

Yuji watched as the portal above him began to open. Purple tendrils reached out to grasp onto the empty blue sky and opened cracks between the separate universes. In the centre of the grasping tentacles a ball began to appear, as if pulled through into existence by the tentacles using thin air for purchase.

The Mystes boy stared in shock, horror and amazement as the ball grew, stretching to the outer reaches of the tentacles to make a large circle in the air that swirled with colours and energy. The tightness in Yuji's chest grew and he knew that this portal had been the source of his discomfort; but he had been too slow to realise it and now they were in danger. For from the portal emerged dark, winged shapes and Yuji knew they were the assailants from before.

And they were circling down towards him.

"Yuji!" Shana dashed towards the window, cloak appearing around her shoulders and sword leaping into her hand.

"Wait one moment!" Himura's commanding voice stopped her dead in her tracks as if an invisible force had wrapped around her. "Just remember what we told you, or you can't save him."

"What are you going to be doing while I'm fighting?" Shana demanded, turning around. She had expected them all to come dashing off with her to face this new threat; but they were not and she knew that these enemies were not ones she could defeat en masse as she was.

"Fighting at the other portal that's opening up over by the train station. It's a heavily populated area and even under a Fuzetsu if the area was too damaged it would be difficult to hide the damage." Elena answered. The two Guardians clapped their hands and touched them to their clothes which then shone blue. The glow grew until it was near blinding and then it receded suddenly and the two stood in their white uniforms, complete with weaponry.

"Wilhelmina, let's go!" Shana said, not wanting to waste anymore time and turning to the window. The other Flame Haze followed her and they leapt off the balcony together. Himura clicked his fingers and a Fuzetsu spread across the entire city easily.

"Well, shall we?" He asked, turning to Elena who nodded.

"Yes, let's."

Yuji turned and ran into an alleyway as the attackers glided down towards him with a mighty cackle. He emerged onto a street at the other end of the alley and looked up and down, unsure which way to flee. The enemy behind him closed in and he instinctively chose left and ran, looking over his shoulder to see the demons emerge from the alley only metres behind him.

"Yuji!" The cry calmed him like no balm ever could and a ball of fire shot down from the sky to engulf the demons. Shana landed by Yuji, sword still flaming with Wilhelmina not far behind.

"Shana, they're coming out of that!" Yuji wasted no time with pleasantries and pointed at the orb like structure in the sky.

"How many ~ de arimasu?" Wilhelmina demanded and Yuji quickly flashed back to the memory of the demons emerging and made a tally in his head.

"Two score." He answered and the two Flame Haze looked worried.

"At least they can not be reinforced ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina finally said.

"Limited passage." Tiamat spoke before drawing back into reclusion.

"Yuji, go hide somewhere!" Shana ordered and Yuji looked surprised, it had been the first time she had told him to hide himself.

"But Shana-"

"Just do it!" Shana shouted. The expression on her face was pained and Yuji didn't argue any further and ran towards a nearby shop. The two Flame Haze turned towards the threat immediately above them but Alastor's commanding voice shouted out.

"Above!" The two looked up to see a third of the enemy forces flying over them.

"Wilhelmina, I'll take these, you stop them!" Shana shouted. Her sword was shaking in her grip as she watched the enemy in front of her and Wilhelmina hesitated. "Go!" Shana screamed and the other Flame Haze leapt into the sky.

"Be safe ~ de arimasu." She spoke the wish to the wind and hoped someone might hear it.

Elena and Himura watched as the portal above the train station opened.

"It's a double portal; a second one has already unloaded its contents." Elena surmised and Himura nodded his agreement. The boy unsheathed his sword and checked the blade out of habit as he thought over their battle plan.

"I'll take the ones on the ground that have already gotten out. You can use your ranged expertise to make a bottleneck out of that portal and I'll finish off any that get out once I'm done down there." He finally said and stood up from his crouch. Elena stood with him and unslung her bow. A glowing blue arrow formed in her hand and then solidified into a material wooden shaft with a metal head and feathered tail. She pulled the string of the longbow back easily, despite her slight frame. Normally such a weapon would take years of training to use properly, from an early age to the end of puberty but the girl seemed to have no trouble in doing so without the extraordinary muscles usually required.

"Ready to go." She spoke and the boy nodded.

"Alrighty, let's go then." He jumped over the edge of the building, the white cloak with purple lining that he had added to his uniform billowing out behind him. The cloak was a symbol of his status as a commander of the Guardians and marked him out as a feared opponent.

He landed easily as if it had been a short drop rather than a leap from a five story building and shot forwards at blinding speed. The demons assembled on the ground had barely registered his arrival by the time the first couple had fallen. Elena was standing almost motionless, her slow, calm breathing causing the rise and fall of her chest, the only sign of life in her statue like posture.

From the portal that had just solidified a demon began to emerge and as soon as the first fragment of his body appeared Elena had loosed the arrow and a second one was nocked on the string and eagerly awaiting the next target which came willingly into view.

Down on the ground Himura parried a thrust one handed and his left hand shot out to crush the demon's wind pipe and force it to the ground, coughing and spluttering in a vain attempt to free its crushed airway. The boy side stepped a wild down cut from a flying demon and his sword flicked up to neatly knick a slice of the attacker's neck away. A twirl with the sword outstretched and another enemy was down. The pile of bodies surrounding the boy grew as he gracefully danced a lethal tango with the demons.

Demons fell to add to another pile of corpses only yards away, each with an arrow square between the eyes. Elena was not simply making a bottleneck out of the portal; she was eliminating anything and everything that entered through it. Another arrow sprung from the bow and found its target. The girl lowered her bow when the portal began to shudder and blacken until it was truly black rather than a swirling mass of dark colours.

"It's become unstable for now!" Elena called down to Himura who was wiping his bloodied blade on a demon's corpse before it burst into black flames along with those of the other felled attackers.

"We're done here then." Himura answered as he sheathed his sword.

"Should we go help Shana-chan and the others then?" Elena asked as Himura leapt up the five stories with apparent ease.

"No. We've helped enough with our little talk earlier."

Shana fell to the ground as her body crashed into the wall of the shop and rebounded. All the air had been driven from her body and her body screamed with pain.

"She can have marks for determination." One of the demons cackled as the girl struggled to her feet. Nietono no Shana felt heavy in her hands she felt like as if the air were leaden; trying to force her down no matter how hard she pushed herself up.

"We need to move on and take down the Guardians before the others are overwhelmed. Finish her off." A strong and commanding voice ordered and one of the demons peeled away from the group who were preparing to wing off and defeat the other Flame Haze who was fighting on equal terms with the other group.

Shana watched through lidded eyes as the demon approached. She feebly raised her sword to point at it but her soon-to-be executioner knocked the weapon aside with the back of his hand. The girl nearly let go of the weapon, the blow unimaginably strong for her weakened body. A fist sped towards her body and she watched it almost detached as it punched into her stomach and she crumpled over it.

The fist retracted and Shana fell to the ground. She'd cough and splutter but there was no air or energy even for that small act and she simply collapsed. The demon's sword touched lightly to her neck and then rose, prepared for the final blow.

"Shana!" The demon looked towards the source of the shout and saw Yuji who had fled his hiding place as he saw what was about to happen. The girl heard the voice dimly and somewhere inside her she felt some unknown reserve of energy kindle into life. Shana moved her head to look for him. She had hoped he would stay hidden, that he would save himself and just watch while the demons killed her but she had known he wouldn't. Yuji wouldn't stand by and see her demise; he would step in the way and perish with her.

"Ah, so that's where you were hiding." The demon cackled and started walking towards Yuji, sword held before it. "Saves us the trouble of hunting you down, so it does." Another cackle.

"Shana, get up!" Yuji shouted as the demon approached; but the boy didn't seem to see the looming danger. His eyes were on Shana whose eyes stared almost lifelessly back at him.

"Shana!" The demon was only four yards away from him but still he did not move to prepare.

"Shana!" Three yards and closing. Shana heard Alastor's normally calm voice mingling in with Yuji's desperate calls. The fire began to burn stronger.

"Shana, what are you doing? Get up!" Two yards, almost in range of the demon's weapon. Shana gripped her sword and forced herself to her feet.

"_A person with a strong will can accomplish anything."_

"Shana!" One yard. The demon's arm moved back to swing the weapon on the next instep and snuff out Yuji's life. Shana launched herself forwards, eyes blazing 's words echoed around inside her mind and heart.

… _core for determination… ultimate strength… not so personal a feeling… fight beyond the point of death… same for protecting the balance… no reason stronger than love…_

"YUJI!"


	6. Chapter 5

**Note:** The big battle is drawing close. This will be the 'final' fanfic in this series, I have decided now. I have sequels of a very different manner planned; and some fill-ins for later. In any case, enjoy the up and coming drama in midst of heavy battle!

**C**hapter 5

Wilhelmina leapt out of range of the reaching blades and her bandage like attack flew out, dispatching two of the enemy who were caught off guard but the others evaded the attack. She had already eliminated half of the forces she had intercepted but the other half were proving to be stubborn and had become used to her attacks; and she was tiring.

A demon rose behind her, a blood curling howl rising in its throat. Wilhelmina flew out of the way of the swinging blade and knew that she was being penned in. It wouldn't be long before she was trapped and she lacked the strength to fight her way out. She also knew that Shana had no chance against the enemy below. Wilhelmina could feel her power of existence diminishing as the life was beaten out of her, quite literally. Neither one of them could help the other; their only hope was that the two Guardians arrived to save them, again.

Nietono no Shana sliced through the demon's head and cleaved it in two before it jarred on a rib bone and was stopped; but the demon was dead and disappeared in a burst of black fire. Shana fell forwards; her support gone now that the demon had disappeared and Yuji caught her.

"Shana! Come on, get a hold of yourself!" He cried and shook her gently by the shoulders.

"I'm fine. I just need a few minutes' rest." Shana mumbled, almost a whisper.

"Shana, Carmel-san's in trouble!" Yuji insisted and Shana rolled over in his arms to look up at the sky. Wilhelmina was slowly being surrounded by the demons, now reinforced by the second group that had taken off after Shana had seemed to be defeated. The girl reached for her sword and grasped it.

"Shana." Alastor's voice rang out, clear and strong and stopped her. "What the Guardian boy spoke of, what he said is true. You must learn to do as he said now or it will be the end for all of us." Shana nodded and gripped the sword hilt and forced herself to stand up. Yuji supported her as she wavered.

"Are you sure you can fight?" He asked doubtfully and the girl glared at him, the fire back in her eyes and stronger than before.

"I'll fight. Stay here, Yuji." The wings emerged from her back and Yuji stepped to the side to let her fly off but she hesitated and turned to face him before stepping towards him. "Yuji...." Shana pressed up close to him and reached up, standing on tip toe, her short height hampering her. She kissed him lightly on the lips, just a brush but it was enough for that moment. She stepped back, smiling with embarrassment.

"I'll come back." She promised. Yuji's smiled back, slightly sheepishly.

"I'll be waiting." He replied and she leapt up into the air. She felt strength returning to her body like never before. The demons on the outer ring surrounding Wilhelmina turned to see her and a cry ran around the group as the news spread.

A group of demons peeled off the net drawing around Wilhelmina and flew towards the approaching Flame Haze, screaming their war cries. Shana swung her sword and a wall of flames sprang from the blade and incinerated the demons, the flames burning far more fiercely than ever before.

_This is what he meant. This is real strength!_

Shana sped upwards. More demons turned to fight her but they all fell to her flames and slowly the net around Wilhelmina grew holes and she escape through one of them. The demons spread into two groups, one to fight Wilhelmina and the other to face Shana.

Shana burned any enemies close to her to a crisp or dispatched them with a blindingly fast sword swing. She could feel her power rising, her flames more intense and her instincts heightened, reflexes more precise and her blows more powerful.

Wilhelmina was being pressed back, her exhaustion not lifted like Shana's had been but reinforcements arrived; announced by a speeding arrow that found its mark in the head of a demon and sent the monster back to whence it had come. Elena sped out of from nowhere, arrows flying from her bow as fast as she could pull the string back.

It was not long before the demons had been defeated and Wilhelmina and Elena headed towards Shana. However, before they reached the girl her wings faded and she fell backwards, her eyes closing with exhaustion. Shana hurtled towards the ground, unconscious. Yuji screamed for her to wake up, to save herself but his cries were unheeded.

Himura walked calmly out of an alleyway and caught the girl deftly in his arms. The two combatants from above joined him as did Yuji who sprinted towards them.

"Is she alright?" He demanded, gasping.

"Just a little tired and beaten up." Himura answered with a calming smile.

"Where did she get the strength to keep fighting ~ de arimasu?" Wilhelmina asked.

"Our words did not go unheeded, Carmel-san." Himura answered, handing the unconscious girl over to Yuji who seemed anxious to check on her himself.

"We were nearly defeated ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina stated. Her implication was clear, they would not stand against another attack.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much." Himura answered, glancing at the unconscious Shana. "Her power has become stronger; and we need not worry for sometime about another attack. Ellie and I will respond to the skirmishes for now, the rest of you can rest until we need our combined strength to fight."

* * *

Hours later Elena and Himura sat on top of the apartment complex and kept watch over the city. They still wore their uniforms but had left their weapons on the ground next to them for comfort.

"Himie, when this is all over, what're we going to do?" Elena asked. Silence met her question for quite some time but she did not ask again, she knew that Himura would answer; he was just thinking of a true answer. That was the way Himura was, he would only say things he truly meant unless he had to otherwise.

"I've never really thought about it. This war has been our entire life, from the day we were born we were hunted, and then we turned into soldiers and have been for most of our recent lives. When it's all over I wonder where the Guardians will fit into the world? We might be forgotten, or we might become heroes for our entire lives. If we become 'normal' then I suppose I'd like to take up the position my father left behind and carry on my family's service to the crown. If we become immortalised I might do the same, it depends how political pressure is put on us afterwards." He did not need to ask the same question to her, they did not need to exchange meaningless words for they knew what the other was thinking. They only spoke out of habit and for the comfort of hearing another voice through a more normal means than telepathy.

"I'd prefer it if we were allowed to be normal; but not forgotten. I'd hate for everyone to forget the sacrifices that were made for them to live free lives; but I don't want to be regarded as superior to everyone else either. I think I'd like to carry on with my childhood dream, become a doctor and help people in a more normal way."

They both knew they were evading the big question. They had spoken about themselves; but they had not spoken about their future together. They knew they wanted to spend their futures together; but the thought that the other would not make it through the final battle was something they could not voice. Elena had tried to bring it up; but they had both edged away from it in the end.

"Ellie, when this is over you'll come looking for me, won't you?" Himura asked, rather suddenly. Elena looked up, she had been sure her earlier question would go unanswered.

"Look for you?" She queried and he nodded, not giving anything more away. She searched his mind but he was giving nothing away, his face impassive. Elena nodded eventually, unable to fathom the meaning behind his words. "I will."

"I'm glad." Himura said with a forced smile which vanished when they sensed the opening of the portals again; but as the warning bells began to sound a much larger concentration of energy appeared on their internal sensors.

"They're showing their trump card a bit early." Elena said with a frown but Himura shook his head.

"No they're not. The portals are more stable now. They want to move in and take control of the area."

"So we can't bottleneck their forces." Elena finished, understanding now.

"That must mean the portals are closer to becoming capable of carrying large forces across. Time to get the others." Himura glanced at Elena and she nodded.

"I'll keep their heads down, you get them." She spoke but he shook his head, surprising her.

"No, I'll distract them while you get ready. They've showed their trump card; but they're means to the objective are not clear yet. If they have some hidden plan it's best I go and trigger it." Elena frowned again, unhappy with Himura placing himself in danger.

"Okay, we'll hang back until the opportune moment." She finally said and the boy nodded. He picked up his sword and slipped the sash over his head so that it fell diagonally across his chest. He kissed Elena goodbye, flashed her a confident smile and then disappeared. Elena sighed and picked up her bow, slinging it over her shoulder before sliding the scabbard through her belt.

"Time to wake the troops."

* * *

Himura stopped as he neared the portals and watched as demons poured out of them. He had miscalculated, which made him worry. His predictions were never wrong regarding portals, his theories flawless. There was outside influence and that made him anxious but there was no time to stand around and think, he had to stem the flow of enemies before it became a flood and threatened to engulf them.

"Fuzetsu!" The city was instantly ringed in a red orb and time was frozen, except for the demons entering the world and the looming shadow of the still far away Serei-den making its way to solidify the position.

Himura unsheathed his sword and unleashed his energy, allowing the demons to finally sense his presence. They howled and leapt to the skies to bear down on him in the hundreds. The boy made a quarter turn to the right, stepping one foot behind the other and turning it slightly away from the other and his sword swung up to point up at the sky beside him. A tight smile flickered on his lips as the first demons rushed to their deaths.

* * *

"Time to get ready!" Elena called as she landed on the balcony and ran into the apartment. Wilhelmina was already prepared, as always. Shana ran into the room, black cloak materialising around her with Yuji in close pursuit.

"Let's go!" Shana shouted and ran towards the balcony.

"Wait!" Elena ordered and the girl stopped to look at the older girl. "Himie's gone to distract them; our job is to watch for a trap and to counter it. We need to be somewhere we can monitor their movements."

"The Harridan, in the department store. We should contact Margery-san." Yuji answered, his quick mind ahead of the others'.

"I don't like the idea of standing by as reinforcements." Shana intervened but Elena's stern shake of the head stopped her arguing further.

"Himie's been commander in thousands of battles, he knows what he's doing. We'll have to trust him, although I don't like it either. We need to get to this Harridan and notify your friend." Shana grabbed Yuji by the hand and ran to the balcony. Fire wings sprang out from the back of her cloak and she took off with Yuji in tow. Wilhelmina followed, flying through the air easily with Elena as the rearguard to their little procession. Yuji had yanked out a bookmark like object that glowed purple and was talking into it.

"Margery-san? Yes, there are enemies here. We're on our way to the Harridan, we need you there as well." Yuji leaned away from the shouting from the other end of the bookmark. He said his goodbye and slid the communicator into his pocket again.

"She said she'll be there but she's not happy about it." He informed the others.

"I wouldn't expect otherwise ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina commented.

* * *

Himura stepped over the carnage and looked up at the portal. It had grown even larger and there was less of a black tint to it. His fears had been confirmed, someone was making the portal more stable and that meant a powerful opponent was on their way to the battle; and there would be no shortage of small fry to fight either.

A fresh batch of demons winged their way through the portal, took stock of the situation and were quickly annihilated by Himura's ranged attacks, sword swings heavily infused with magic to create large blades of energy that scythed through the air for long distances.

"Come on Bryan." He muttered to himself before he turned to wipe out another platoon.

* * *

"Why're you ordering us around this time then?" Margery Daw demanded angrily. Marcosius, her contractor in the form of a large book with a long strap, was slung over her shoulder in customary fashion.

"We're trusting a more experienced tactician this time." Alastor answered, his voice carrying a heavy weight of authority that stopped the fury of the Flame Haze for a few moments.

"So, what's going on?" She finally asked in a less furious tone of voice.

"A wide scale assault is being sent through these portals, here and here." Elena spoke, pointing to a pair of swirling orbs displaying by the Harridan. No one had shown her how to use the device but she had seemed to have worked it out for herself rather quickly. "They can unload a great number of troops through these portals and I'd say between us we could defeat around five hundred of them before we were overwhelmed."

"There aren't that many of them there so why aren't we fighting there now?" Margery demanded, her battle frenzy rising. Elena pointed to the Serei-den that had just begun to enter the range the Harridan covered.

"There are around a thousand of these troops on this, not to mention the Tomogora already residing on here and the three leading members of Bal Masque. We need to intercept this and hold them off. If they join together with the forces from this portal we'll be under too much pressure."

"So we divide their forces and beat them at the same time?" Shana surmised and Elena nodded.

"In a way, yes. Himie will stop any of these new arrivals interfering with us; but we'll have our hands full dealing with these anyway. If we prepare the area properly we can gain the advantage and defeat their forces despite the balance being in their favour."

"Where do we make our stand ~ de arimasu?" Wilhelmina asked. Elena chewed her lower lip as she studied the map before pointing at a wide open area slightly elevated above the surrounding city.

"This will be as good a place as any. Our main objective is just to hold them off, we should be getting reinforcements but in the event they don't get through we have a contingency plan."

"And what exactly is this plan?" Margery asked, slightly more respectfully than before. She had already acknowledged Elena's tactical prowess and natural leadership.

"We'll do a swap with Himie. We'll lure the enemy back and make them think we're retreating, Himie will do the same and we'll swap enemies. It should be enough of a surprise to swing the balance in our favour."

"Bal Masque might go after Yuji while we're fighting." Shana spoke up as the thought rose in her mind.

"He can fight, can't he? We mustn't be separated from each other so as long as we stay in a group then he'll be fine." Elena replied. She walked towards the wall made up of windows and stared out of the red tinged city. "Well, let's go then."


	7. Chapter 6

**Note: **A less lengthy chapter. You may experience deja vu at the end of the chapter!

**C**hapter 6

The group descended onto a roof top only a few metres from where the battle raged. Demons flooded from the rapidly strengthening portals and Himura could be seen flashing to and fro, dropping all in his path with contemptuous ease.

"We need to turn off from here so we can ambush Bal Masque." Elena said to them as she pointed out away from the battle and over the city in the direction of the huge fortress that was moving closer to the portals.

"They will have already sensed us ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina intervened but the blonde girl shook her head.

"No, they've sensed you. I've hidden my presence so they don't know about me just yet and my specialty is ranged combat."

"You'll cover us then?" Shana asked and Elena nodded again.

"That's the plan. They won't notice for some time and by that point we may have gained the advantage. Now let's stop tarrying as we're losing ground with every wasted second." Elena dropped down the side of the building into the alleyway and wasted no time rushing off. Shana grabbed Yuji and followed, catching the boy just before they hit the ground and putting him down on his own two feet before they ran off after the speeding blonde girl with Wilhelmina directly behind them.

"Tch, I don't like being ordered around." Margery complained.

"Doesn't seem like we have much of a choice here." Marcosius replied soberly.

"These 'demons' do certainly contain an amount of power of existence that's off the scale." Margery agreed as she jumped onto Marcosius who floated in the air for her, acting as her transport. He sped after the others with the Flame Haze balanced easily on top.

Himura stopped as he felt a rhythmic beating come from the portal. It ran through the ground around him and all the demons paused to listen as well, a temporary truce between them. The Guardian had been in enough battles to know what that shout was; and what it might mean if only he could discern the details of the noise which was still just a rumble that shook his surroundings.

The demons around him began to take up the rhythm; chanting and the boy's worst fears were confirmed.

"The Almighty, the Conqueror, he is come! The Almighty, the Conqueror, he is come!"

Yuji stood alongside Shana, Blutsauger held in his hands in the standard guard position. Wilhelmina and Margery Daw flanked the two as they waited in a wide open plaza for the approaching fortress.

Now that they were close they could see that a swarm of black shapes was leaving the flying city and assembling around it in ranks. The stream eventually stopped and the giant cloud of shadowy shapes moved, overtaking the Serei-den and heading towards them.

"They're coming!" Shana called, rather unnecessarily. The small band braced themselves, Wilhelmina's face was now covered with a mask, Margery Daw and Marcosius had disappeared to be replaced by a giant purple bear.

Several yards back from them Elena crouched behind a low wall that encircled part of the plaza, cutting it off from any stray cars seeking to avoid the traffic of the main roads and ensuring the area remained a pedestrian only zone. An arrow was nocked already but the string was lax, she did not want to break it at the beginning of the battle for she only had half a dozen spares and rapid use would easily snap a string, even a more modern and strengthened one.

"They're waiting for us." Sydonay commented and Bel-Peol made a derisive noise.

"As planned. We've broken up their forces and now it's time to sweep these aside and join up with the larger force. Although He will have no trouble breaking through by Himself."

"So we sit tight while they do the fighting for us?" Sydonay asked with a smirk.

"We'll let our allies wear them down before we take to the field. We still need that Reiji Maigo."

The small group of four stood their ground and used their limited ranged attacks against the demons which did not even thin the swarm although the burning corpses on the ground proved their attacks did inflict casualties.

"They're endless ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina grunted as she felled another demon. Shana's flames and Margery's spells seemed to be the attacks inflicting the most damage; but even all their combined power did not even seem to slow the enemy. Shana felt a wisp of air blow her hair and a demon in the fore of the attack tumbled to the ground with no visible injury inflicted upon it. Suddenly demons were falling all along the line without a sound.

A wind seemed to be blowing from behind the group towards the demons but the Flame Haze could just about see blurred objects shoot past her although it was barely noticeable. She turned around to glance and saw Elena was standing behind the wall unleashing arrows at a terrific pace; it was most certainly not in a standard human's capabilities.

Despite all their attacks the demons were still closing and there was no end to them, there was no visible dent to show their efforts were having any significant effect. The flood of enemies descended down upon them and the four stepped forwards to meet the first wave.

The rumble abruptly stopped and Himura neatly flicked his opponent's sword aside and cut his sword through it's neck before looking up at the portal. The flood of demons became a tremendous torrent and an inhuman scream echoed through the city from the united monsters.

The torrent ceased and a solitary figure stepped out from the portal. This figure lacked the stubby horns the demons had but had it's wings were expansive and majestic, unlike the scraggly ones the minions possessed.

Himura had no time to think as the demons above sensed him and dived down. It looked like a black sky was falling down on his head. The Guardian looked up and knew that, even for him, this would be too much but nevertheless readied his sword, refusing to give in and roared his battle cry at the enemy.

Yuji deflected the demon's sword and instantly Blutsauger's special property kicked in and the demon was reeling back, blood flowing from wounds that had mysteriously opened from nowhere. The Mystes stepped into the opening and plunged the gigantic bastard sword into the monster's chest. His opponent burst into black flames and looked around him.

He was surrounded now. He had been separated from Shana and Wilhelmina who had been flanking him and was now alone. Despite the odds he gritted his teeth and waited for the next attacker; but the demons were holding fast and made no move to finish off the trapped Mystes.

The circle surrounding him parted and a familiar figure stepped forward. Sydonay had moved past his weapon before he could even respond and had pulled it from his grasp with contemptuous ease before grabbing him by the shirt.

"A little too easy, I would say."

Shana blasted her flames in a wide area around her, incinerating scores of the demons and giving her a moment's reprieve. She was breathing heavily and knew she could not keep up the pace of slaughter she had been inflicting so far.

"Shana!" Alastor broke he from her temporary reverie and drew her attention to a chimera like beast flying away back towards the Serei-den.

"Senpen Sydonay!" She exclaimed. He was flying away from the battle, which confused her. Then her sharp eyes caught out the limp figure in his talon. "Yuji!" Demons pressed in all around her and the girl was forced to fight back or otherwise perish while Yuji was taken away. She cried his name helplessly, her voice drowned out in the middle of battle.

A shape leapt into the fray beside Shana, too fast for the girl to respond to which was convenient for the shape was Elena who had come to Shana's aid, sword in hand. Her bow had been abandoned by the wall and instead the Guardian hacked away at the demons with blindingly fast strokes and jabs.

Back to back they fought and soon had cleared a small space around them of enemy and Elena turned to Shana.

"I'll clear you a path; go after him with the others. I'll hold them here."

"You can't fight them all by yourself!" Shana protested but Elena's eyes were firm and uncompromising and Shana gave in easily to her urge to rush off, forsake the fate of the world and save Yuji.

"Get ready!" Elena cried and suddenly white feathered wings burst out from her back without ripping her clothes as if they had spawned from her jacket rather than her body proper. The demons cowered back as Elena cried mightily and a wave of golden energy swept them away, instantly obliterating them. The other two Flame Haze became visible, their enemies also swept away. "Go after him!" Elena cried and the two chased after the already distant Shana.

The demons closed in the gap Elena had made to descend down on her again, dark demonic monsters bearing down on a pristine and pure figure. Elena's sword swept up into the guard position as she once again met the charge.


	8. Chapter 7

**Note: **Nearing the end here, not long now and not very much SnS orientated for a while.

**C**hapter 7

Shana saw the bright blue beam of energy zooming towards her and banked to the right to avoid the attack without slowing down. She knew her opponent before she saw her; but the distinctive clothes and Hougo were unmistakable: Hecate, the Master Throne.

"Out of the way!" Shana screamed as she charged Hecate who, as per usual, remained silent as she fired off more of her ranged attacks. Wilhelmina and Margery were close behind and they spread out to flank Hecate; but Margery's path was blocked by Sydonay who appeared in a flash of green light.

"This is getting beyond déjà vu, Senpen." Margery greeted her old enemy and the Lord of Guze grunted his agreement.

"We really are starting to form a bond, it's a shame we're on opposite sides." He replied.

"Enough chit chat, it's time to finish this, my lovely goblet, Margery Daw!" Marcosius cackled and the Flame Haze agreed as they once again transformed into the bear form. Shana was now in melee combat with Hecate, sword clashing on staff with no room to use their more powerful ranged attacks.

Wilhelmina's bandage like material wrapped around Hecate's ankles from below and swung her down into a building which collapsed around the Master Throne.

"Go ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina said and Shana nodded before flying into the Serei-den alone. She honed in on Yuji's presence and headed straight for it.

"It seems that The Flame of Heaven's Flame Haze is coming for you." Bel-Peol commented to the Mystes chained to the wall behind her. Yuji tried to look out the window the Lord of Guze was to see her.

"You knew she would." He accused her and the triclops glanced back at him.

"That's right. It's part of our plan, we need her for the experiment."

"Experiment?" Yuji echoed.

"Yes. The power of existence in a Flame Haze is extraordinarily high; but if that can all be extracted then their powers as a Flame Haze are temporarily removed. What would happen if their power of existence was extracted after that?"

Bel-Peol's implication was quite clear; and Yuji could only fear for Shana.

Himura stood among an endless expanse of flaming corpses and sighed with relief.

"You're late!" He shouted at the hundreds of Guardians filtering into the area with swords drawn. At least four hundred knelt on surrounding rooftops with bows in their hands having torn apart the enemy army.

"There was a buffer force to delay us." One of the Council members shouted to Himura.

"Better late than never, I suppose. I feel a great deal safer fighting alongside you again, Gordon." Himura spoke and the two grasped hands. Not a hand shake but the classic military formality, looking for weakness in the other and finding none.

"Sir Bryan has taken the First Division to help Lady Elena and then to reinforce the Flame Haze." Gordon debriefed Himura who nodded his head. Gordon thought he saw a look of resignation on the boy's face but it quickly passed, the long time soldier's face falling into the warrior's cold mask.

"Then that means I'll have to deal with Him." The more senior officer looked up at the solitary figure who glared down at them with contempt, apparently oblivious of the hundreds of expert bowmen training their weapons on him should he move into range.

"We can draw a net around him." Gordon suggested but Himura shook his head.

"There will be casualties, a lot of them. I'll fight him alone until Bryan shows up." Himura unsheathed his sword and white wings sprouted from his back, stretching to a majestic span.

"You're sure about this?" Gordon tried once again but his superior declined his help again and launched himself up into the air. The enemy above smiled cruelly and awaited his opponent.

Elena sheathed her sword and a Guardian carried over her discarded bow which she took gratefully and slung over her shoulder.

"Where's Sir Bryan?" She asked and the Guardian pointed over to where a group of uniformed Guardians were in a circle around a tall figure who was gesturing and speaking rapidly. As Elena approached the group dispersed as the soldiers hurried to do their jobs.

"In the nick of time, Sir Bryan." Elena greeted him and the commander turned around to see the owner of the familiar voice and a tired grin broke over his face. He looked haggard, as if he had not slept for days. He probably had not. Bryan bore a striking resemblance to Himura; but his hair was darker and his eyes were stormy grey, his face giving the impression of someone used to hard labour.

"I'm glad to see you're unharmed, Elena. We need to use our temporary advantage to storm the Serei-den and help the Flame Haze. A force of Tomogora has appeared and we're currently in a dead lock. You and I will spearhead an offensive into the base itself and so force Bal Masque out." Bryan's brusque manner implied that time was crucial but Elena was hesitant.

"Bryan, you can sense that He is here. Surely you should head over there to fight him? You are the only one capable of defeating him." Bryan turned away from her as he stared towards the distant battle raged in the sky. On one side was Himura and their ultimate enemy, the other were Tomogora and their Flame Haze allies.

"I can defeat him; but not kill him." Bryan finally and stared right at her, his eyes were pained but resolute. "Only Himura can kill him for sure. We will stay out of the fight and accomplish our other objectives before we return and aid him if we can; but I suspect that we will be a hindrance."

"Last time Himie fought against Him-"

"That was a long time ago. You know as well as I do how much stronger he has become. He is far stronger than I am and he is the only one capable of this feat. Believe in him and pray he comes back safely; but we have a job to do in the mean time Elena. You know Himura would agree with me on this." Bryan interrupted Elena's protest and his eyes were unyielding and commanding. Elena gave in and the two flew off to the battle.

Shana burst through the glass window into the room and the first thing she saw was Yuji chained to the wall.

"Yuji!" She cried in relief but it was short lived as Bel-Peol's odd weapon; of what appeared to be two pairs of three metal cylinders melted together in the centre attached to each end of a long metal chain, zoomed from out of her peripheral vision and slammed in her back and sent her sprawling the ground, winded.

Shana fell hard onto the ground and as she forced herself to stand, coughing as she tried to force air back into her lungs, she felt uneasy. She had the feeling that she had been forced into her present position.

Her instincts proved true as a whirring sound announced the activation of some kind of machinery. As the sound began Shana felt herself weaken and she fell back onto her hands and knees, her injury from Bel-Peol's attack feeling distinctly more painful than it had before.

"The Seeking Researcher again. We've seen this before!" Alastor warned but it was unnecessary for Shana could barely move as her strength as a human was pulled away as well.

"Thaaaaaaaat's correct! A new technology for the leeching and draining of a Flame Haze's very life!" The Seeking Researcher's voice sounded over an intercom device somewhere in the room.

"Shana!" Yuji shouted but the girl's arms and legs had given out and she collapsed forwards, arms and legs spread out as she stared towards a wall as her vision became blurry. Bel-Peol nodded in satisfaction and was turning away when two winged shapes burst in through the window. One, with a smaller pair of wings, landed by Shana and picked the limp girl up and then carried her away from the draining circle. The second shape turned to Bel-Peol, a sword held forwards as if issuing a challenge.

Elena ran over to Yuji after laying Shana gently down on her back away from the mechanical device and cut him down. The Mystes boy immediately rushed to Shana's side and gently lifted her into a sitting position and softly called her name in an attempt to wake her up but she seemed tired, paler than he had ever seen.

"She's exhausted. It will take some time before her strength returns." Elena assured him that Shana was not actually dead, just unconscious.

"It seems now would be a good time to make our leave." Bel-Peol said as she observed the powerful figure of Bryan opposing her over his sword blade. She disappeared in a ball of red flame and outside the other Lords of Guze also abandoned the battle. Somewhere there was the sound of rockets igniting and the retreat of the Seeking Researcher was made.

"We need to take her somewhere where she's safe and can rest." Bryan said as he sheathed his sword and turned back to the group.

"What about Himie? We have to go help him!" Elena protested but Bryan shook his head firmly.

"We will just hamper him, Elena. We can only watch. If things take a turn for the worse I will step in and drive Him away; but it is better for all of us if Himura kills Him here and now."

"You say he can do it; but will he be wounded like last time? He barely survived it and it's doubtful he'll survive a second injury like that."

Bryan gave her no answer.


	9. Chapter 8

**Note: **Last 'chapter'.

**C**hapter 8

Shana's eyes cracked open and she heard voices all around her; and none were familiar. As her vision began to clear she could make out hundreds of boys and girls in their mid teens rushing about carrying various files and folders. Each and every one of them was armed with at least a broadsword and she could see a pair of uniformed girls standing by the doorway to the room she was in, their weapons drawn but held casually as if they were not expecting danger but were ready for it.

"Ah, this one's awake." Shana's eyes slid over to the other side of her to see a boy in the same uniform; but in a dark navy blue colour. A girl who had been standing nearby filling in a clipboard wandered over and nodded, scratching something onto the board with her fountain pen.

"How are you feeling?" The boy asked, pulling up a chair and sitting on it so that he was level with Shana, who realised she was now on a high bed. She barely managed to moan a reply, nothing very articulate entering her brain. The girl said something and the boy looked up at her and nodded his head. The girl asked a few more questions which the boy answered before returning his attention back to Shana.

"You had most of your power of existence sucked out of you. Luckily the process was stopped before it killed you; but your powers as a Flame Haze will take time to come back as your power of existence is restored so you'll need to take it easy for a few days." Shana tried to move her muscles so that she could push herself into a sitting position and give a snappy reply about how she couldn't sit around but she found herself unable to move.

"Your energy levels are far too low right now; you shouldn't really attempt to move. For now you should just go back to sleep, that'll be the fastest way to replenish your energy. When you've recovered enough to eat we'll give you a high energy meal. Anyway, I need to go and see to some patients but there's someone here who'll keep you company." The boy stood up and walked out of the door where the two uniformed girls were standing guard, chatting to each other.

Shana's heart leapt in relief as she saw Yuji walk in, unharmed. He saw her and rushed over to her bed and clasped his hand between his.

"Shana! I'm sorry; you were lured into that trap because of me." Shana tried to shake her head and deny it but she still lacked the strength but Yuji seemed to know she had tried. "The medic said you need to rest so get some sleep, Shana. I'll stay here for when you wake up." Shana needed no more urging and immediately fell into a deep slumber; but this time more at ease.

Yuji watched the sleeping girl's face and felt relieved. The odds that Shana would survive had been very slim and he had spent the past two hours with his fears of a Guardian walking up to him to deliver the bad news; but it hadn't happened and Shana was still with him.

"Elena, there's nothing more that we can do so just wait." Bryan soothed. Elena was pacing up and down in the building they had temporarily commandeered as their HQ. Below was the area where the very few injured were being treated by the blue uniformed medics.

The city was tranquil except for one area where all eyes otherwise unoccupied were looking to. The sky was dotted with constant explosions and flashes of light. The city around the area had been reduced to nothing, the buildings obliterated to nothingness and gigantic craters pitted the ground. The Guardians had retreated to a safe distance where all the soldiers watched their vice-commander fight for their survival.

"I can't just do nothing!" She protested but Bryan would have none of it.

"You can and you will. If you step in you and Himura will end up dead and that will be the end for all of us. Just wait for his return." Bryan continued, attempting to calm her down but suddenly Elena flew into a rage and turned on him.

"Bryan, I know about that old legend! The one our ancestors made, predicting everything that happened? A powerful enemy enslaving the world, our resistance and then this final battle. For Him to die a sacrifice is required. Do you expect Himie to be the sacrifice, Bryan?" She demanded, striding towards him and stopping inches away from his face. Bryan met her eyes unwaveringly.

"I don't expect him to. I was to be the sacrifice. Himura challenged me to a duel, whoever won would be the final sacrifice; and he defeated me." Bryan's voice was tinged with emotion and there was pain in his eyes now.

"So you just gave in?" Elena screamed.

"Elena, Himura didn't just defeat me. He took some of my powers as well so that I wasn't powerful enough to defeat Lucifer. He knew I would break our deal so he made it so that only he could be sacrificed."

"He wanted to be sacrificed?" Elena whispered, becoming docile and tearful. Bryan's strong hands rested on her shoulders.

"You know how he is, Elena. He made that damn vow, to give up his own life if it would save another's. He's held true to it; and he will do until he dies."

Himura and Lucifer unlocked their weapons and leapt away from each other. Both were breathing heavily but were unharmed. They were stuck in a deadlock that neither could break, they were too evenly matched.

"To think that just one Guardian can match me." Lucifer growled in anger, mostly directed at himself. Himura grinned in satisfaction.

"You still think we're not a threat to you?" He shot back; but Lucifer cackled.

"Oh, you've become a nuisance from an insignificance; but nothing more than that!" They engaged in battle again, blades clashing repeatedly and beams of energy colliding to create explosions in mid air as the balanced powers neutralised each other.

Himura knew that at this rate victory would not be assured for the Guardians, he had to find an opening and the word 'sacrifice' sprung to his mind. He remembered the details of the old legend from their most ancient ancestors, that someone had to sacrifice themselves to defeat Lucifer; and he knew what he had to do to break the deadlock.

Lucifer charged and brought his sword down in a gigantic slash seeking to tear Himura asunder from right shoulder to left hip. Himura swung his blade back to prepare for lunge and let Lucifer's blow land. The sword ripped through his collar bone, through his ribs and then was stuck on his bottom rib. Himura felt his life bubble out of him, he only had seconds left. Lucifer seemed shocked that his wild blow had actually landed with the intended effect and failed to notice Himura's lunge speeding towards his head with all of Himura's remaining life and will behind it.

Elena watched as Himura toppled sideways and sped towards the ground. She fell to her knees, screaming silently as she felt his life ebbing away, a part of her dying. Bryan stood next to her and watched, his face somewhere between impassive and severe grief.

The dying Guardian's body began to emit a powerful yellow glow that shone like a star in the red tinged sky. All the Guardians watched as the glow became brighter and brighter until they had to look away, shielding their eyes from the sun-like intensity which suddenly disappeared and their world was left in darkness before their eyes readjusted to the normal light levels.

"I want everyone there, find him and get every medic we have there. NOW!" Bryan roared, his voice carrying beyond the building. The Guardians were in motion before his orders were heard, each and every one rushing to find their friend, comrade-in-arms, leader and hero.

Forgotten, Lucifer stood transfixed in mid-air, Himura's glowing blue sword plunged through his head right up to the cross guard. The sky seemed to tear asunder and a grey light spilled out from the crack, straggling black tentacles reaching out to wrap around the dead warrior and dragging him back into the Void. A tentacle reached around Himura's sword and pulled the weapon out and then let go of it so that it fell towards the ground. The sky closed back up again; and The Conqueror was dead.


	10. Epilogue

**Note: **There will be sequels; but all of the following will be based in the world in the last section of this Epilogue; and they will be of a very different manner.

**E**pilogue

"We thank you for your aid ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina bowed slightly to Bryan who stood surrounded by high ranking officers. All of them wore a battle weary expression, heavily coloured with a great depression.

"At least it's all over now. Your enemy here still lives on; but we must return home and return to our own affairs. I'm sure you can cope here." Bryan answered gruffly. His manner had changed from before the battle when it had been courteous and now he was just a warrior, a soldier who felt no need for eloquence.

"Thank you for saving Shana. I don't think she would have made it if you hadn't all been here." Yuji spoke up, standing next to Wilhelmina. Shana was asleep in the apartment, still building up her strength.

"The least we could do." Bryan said shortly. An uneasy silence settled between the two groups before Yuji finally asked:

"What will you do now? Your war is over now."

"We will return home and hopefully become as close to normal as we can be. Some of us will probably act as peacekeepers as it is in human nature to fight and war; and someone must keep that from happening."

"And Mithran-san?" Yuji asked. Bryan flinched slightly and looked away, signalling that it was not a topic to bring up; but the person in question had appeared from the circle of aides that were with Bryan. She was dressed in her uniform and unlike the others her face showed signs of hope and resolution.

"I'll search for Himie." She answered for herself. Himura's corpse had not been found, even after the entire city had been combed by over eight thousand Guardians for four days and in the end the search had been given up, the final declaration that Himura had indeed died, his body burned up from all the power he had contained.

"Do you know where to start looking?" Yuji asked. The girl thought for a moment before smiling and nodding her head.

"I think I know where he is; and I will go there after we've finished our business at home. I'm sure Himie can survive on his own for a while." No one had outright disputed Elena's sudden claim that Himura was still alive. She had been known to share a special bond with the missing hero that no one else had; but unspoken were the thoughts that Elena simply refused to believe the reality; and if she did she would lose her sanity if she had not already.

"Come, Elena, we should go." The group turned away to walk down the street to where a giant blue portal swirled, opened and sustained by the Guardians. The group left the world of Flame Haze, Tomogora and Torches behind them and the portal squeezed shut.

Back inside the apartment Wilhelmina prepared something she said would be very nutritious and so help Shana to restore her strength, although both the patient and Yuji had doubts about it.

Yuji slipped into Shana's room as quietly as possible and made his way over to the bed in the corner by the window where the girl lay. She turned her head slightly so that she could see him more clearly. Yuji was once again struck by how pale and frail the girl looked but he shook off his worries. Shana would get better but for now he was the stronger so he would look after her.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, kneeling down beside her bed.

"Better. But Wilhelmina's medicine is going to make me sick at this rate." Shana responded with the hint of a smile. Yuji took her hand and squeezed it lightly, she squeezed back very weakly.

"Yoshida-san said she can cook some food easy for a sick person to eat if you wanted. She was very worried when I told her what had happened."

"I forgot Kazumi could move around in a Fuzetsu." Shana mused. Her voice was barely a whisper and lacked her usual confident, strong tone.

"Shana, you'll be alright, won't you?" Yuji asked. It had been the first time he had actually asked her this, although it seemed like something he should have asked much earlier; but had been too afraid of the answer.

"Of course I will be." Shana said derisively, a little of her usual confidence showing through before vanishing again, the little show of will tiring her. She fell into a deep sleep again and Yuji remained by her bed, holding her hand for when she woke up.

On the bedside table Alastor's pendant glittered as the Flame of Heaven watched the exchange; but remained silent. Shana had been his Flame Haze; but now she had become something more.

The Lord of Guze offered a silent prayer for Elena, a prayer that her convictions prove true and that the one who had saved them all lived on.

A light wind rustled the dry, dead leaves that littered the playground. A copper haired girl and a brown haired boy walked hand in hand along the path and stopped to look at the empty area, memories welling up from long ago.

The girl was the first to notice someone lying on the ground. She ran forwards, easily vaulting the little metal fence to stop small children running out onto the main path and being run over by cyclists.

The girl knelt down by the prone body and turned him over and her conviction remained true, his face was familiar. His white uniform was ripped at the chest, a long slash having sliced through the material. A fresh, pink scar was visible underneath; it looked as if the wound had been freshly cauterised.

"Shaoran, come here!" The boy ran over and immediately recognised the boy.

"What's he doing here?" He demanded and the girl shook her head.

"I don't know; but he looks hurt. We should get him to a hospital." They looked down at the prone body, pale and unmoving and the thought that perhaps it was a corpse rather than a body struck them.

And then the boy's eyes sprung open.


End file.
